copy on the fly

[usmortys]

I have been told that using copy on the fly is no good when your reader and writer are on the same IDE cable, is this true.

[setarip]

It is strongly NOT recommended...

[ignignot]

If you're recording at 4x or less I wouldn't imagine it would be a problem however. The concept is the fact that the IDE bus cannot simeltaneously send write and read data. Essentially this splits the data bandwidth to 1/2 of what an individual read or write rate would be. So if your bus is capable of reading/writing at 16x, you should probably be able to copy on the fly at a max of 8x, but this is probably risky.

I do on-the-fly copies at 2.4x (the max my cheap media will allow) on the same bus, and have yet to encounter a problem. However, I would suggest proceeding with with caution.

[usmortys]

I have 2 ide cables 1 for my hard drive and 1 for dvd rom drive & dvd rw drive. What setup would be best for me?

[ignignot]

I would set DVD-ROM drive as a slave on your primary bus (with the HD), and your recorder as a single drive on your secondary bus.

[usmortys]

will this enable me to copy on fly succesfully?

[ignignot]

It should theoretically decrease your chances of failure, especially if you're copying at higer speeds.

[usmortys]

you say to set dvd rom as slave on same cable as hd, do i set hd as master? and also do i set my dvd-rw as master?

[sfheath]

Your HD must be Primary Master to boot your Operating System.
DVD writers are usually best as masters, hence the suggestion you have it as Secondary Master being fed a separate data cable to your reader.

[ignignot]

Originally posted by usmortys
you say to set dvd rom as slave on same cable as hd, do i set hd as master? and also do i set my dvd-rw as master?

This is one of the few things that still requires the use of jumpers nowadays. Look on the back of your drives, and you will see a small (usually black) piece of plastic that goes over some pins. Somewhere on the drive it should show you where to move it to to achieve the appropriate configuration.